Why Do Gardeners Grow?: Perceived Outcomes of Home and Community Garden Food Production

Description

With a growing interest in the potential of home and community gardening to produce food and to help address public health concerns, a number of recent studies have aimed to quantify home and community garden productivity. Few, however, have focused on the experiences of participants to determine outcomes of gardening which are less easily measured. PURPOSE: This study aimed to describe motivations for and outcomes of gardening for participants in a harvest measure study in Albany County, WY, and take a preliminary look at potential relationships between gardener productivity and perceived outcomes of gardening. METHODS: Participants (N=11) for this study were recruited from the Team Gardener Researchers of Wyoming (Team GROW) project. All Team GROW participants who began the 2014 data collection season were asked to complete a survey and take part in an interview. Qualitative data were analyzed using a Grounded Theory approach. RESULTS: This study found that in addition to produce, Team GROW members were motivated by having control over the growing process, growing better quality food, leisure and enjoyment, and the desire to be more self-sufficient. As a result of gardening, participants valued having knowledge of where food comes from, and reported improved wellness and quality of life, increased social networking and community engagement, and favorable effects on household finances and grocery shopping. Many of these outcomes were reported for gardeners with very low productivity relative to the rest of the participant group. As a result of their participation in the Team GROW project, gardeners experienced increased community engagement, increased opportunities for learning and sharing, and pride in the results of the project. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that even low levels of garden productivity can result in perceived improvements in health, increased self-sufficiency, increased relationship building and community engagement, and financial benefits to households.

Get the book

Amazon.com

Search the book

eBay.com

Search the book

Similar books

• 

  Growing Community: Starting and Nurturing Community Gardens

  By Claire Nettle

  ... vegies and fruit trees, and growing bush tucker TPERXW %ZEMPEFPI JSV download from http:// www.environment. sa.gov.au/botanicgardens/ programs/landscapes. html or phone Some of the best ways to share gardening knowledge at community ...

• 

  The Community Food Forest Handbook: How to Plan, Organize, and Nurture Edible Gathering Places

  By Catherine Bukowski, John Munsell

  The building would serve as a larger rainwater harvesting system as well as offer a protected place to hold meetings and community events. It also provided an overlook for observation of the public commons and a place for quiet ...

• 

  21st Century Homestead: Urban Agriculture

  By Douglas Waterford

  All are available from the national office at P.O. Box 241, 5560 Merle Hay Road, Johnston, IA, 501310241, 515-278-0295. 1. Incorporation documents filed with the Secretary of State of Illinois, June 27, 1934. 2.

• 

  Digging Up Trouble

  By Kim Wayans, Kevin Knotts

  When Amy's fourth-grade class must come up with a "green" project, they learn about community activism and fund-raising from Amy's visiting Grandmother Hodges as they raise money to help revitalize a community garden.

• 

  Cultivated Therapeutic Landscapes

  By Allison Williams, Pauline Marsh

  Therapeutic landscapes are relational, reciprocal, and evolving. In this book, leading scholars from across the globe demonstrate how therapeutic landscapes research and practice is expanded through and around the processes of cultivation.